The Impact of Rhetoric on the Collective Perspective of History

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  The Lasting Impact of Rhetoric Being the art of persuasion, rhetoric is a communication tool that has been used by humans since evolving and developing intelligence, and it will continue to be used until the day that there is one human left or less.  Past uses of rhetoric have been impactful for how we view the world and it's history today, and we can learn from both the mistakes and triumphs of how rhetoric was used in the past. Even the rhetoric that is commonly used today, whether political or social or religous, will play a role in the continual progression of rhetoric, just as the past has done with today.  However, harmful rhetoric will continue to be present throughout society. We saw examples of this firsthand, with the false rhetoric that the Covid-19 pandemic was a hoax and that the past American elections have been stolen or tampered with.  This rhetoric is harmful not only because of the violence it can incite, but because of the doubt it instills ...

Faith-Based Uses of Rhetoric Religion (3) Religion relies deeply on rhetoric, for it would be impossible to " communicate, develop, defend, or spread" religious beliefs  without the ability to utilize rhetorical elements. (1)  St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), who was a rhetoric teacher-turned-pastor, said about students studying to become a practicing member of a religion, "should learn to use rhetoric to win souls and to learn some principles of discourse in order to do so" (2) Some religions or their members also use certain types of fearful rhetoric in order to persuade others to act a certain way, typically in accordance with scripture. Extreme examples, like a Christian telling a person they will go to hell if they do not accept God, are still ultimately nothing more than rhetoric.  Many elements of modern Christianity point to the use of rhetoric with an emphasis on fear and guilt. The heaven/hell afterlife is one way to implement fear and encourage accept...

  Cultural Uses of Rhetoric Rhetoric in culture may not be as easy to identify as political rhetoric,  but it is just as impactful. Violence against Certain Groups Antisemitism With the rise in public violence that seemed to begin when Donald Trump normalized threatening behavior in 2015, there has been a subsequent rise in violence against Jewish people. Threats to synagogues and open acts of violence against Jewish communities have increased in the last six years. In particular, famous public figure Kanye West has been known recently for his antisemitic rants, usually on Twitter, making statements like "going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE" and "you guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone who opposes your agenda" (1), both of which were removed when his account was banned. West is fully aware of the impact of his targeting the Jewish community, but does not regret his statements and continues to spew hatred.  (1) West's antisemitic remarks prompte...

  Political Rhetoric In America, politics and rhetoric go hand -in- hand .  Especially today, in which American politics are more partisan than ever.  With the great political divide between the right, left, and even center wings, modern political rhetoric can be difficult to understand from the outside, let alone to observe from the inside.  (1) Politicians utilize techniques like repitition, slogans, and strategical jargon to create a sense of familiarity in their audience and to draw attention away from contradictions or logical inconsistencies (2), making political rhetoric is inherently different from other forms of rhetoric. However, it still boils down to the basic function of rhetoric:  to persuade.

Historical Uses of Rhetoric

Rhetoric What is it? Rhetoric is the way that we use language to persuade. This includes the words that we say and how we intend to say them.